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‘No differences in the BJP’

Madikeri: There are no differences of opinion among Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators in the Yeddyurappa Government, Anwar Manippadi, vice-president of the State unit of the party, has said.

He was speaking to presspersons at the BJP office here on Thursday.

Mr. Manippadi’s observations came in the wake of questions regarding Mr. Yeddyurappa “trying to appease members from other parties who had joined the BJP camp and became ministers.”

Some dissatisfied MLAs might have conducted a meeting but that was not a banner of revolt against the Government, he said.

To another question on the absence of the party’s State president D.V. Sadananda Gowda at the swearing-in ceremony of three Ministers recently, Mr. Manippadi said that Mr. Gowda had been away with some important party work, and added that it would be incorrect to say that there were differences between Mr. Yeddyurappa and Mr. Gowda.

He announced plans to strengthen the BJP at the grassroots level. A membership drive was being taken up in the districts, and a State- level convention of the party would be organised after the conduct of district-level conventions.

Mr. Manippadi expressed confidence that the BJP would win all the 28 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

On being pointed out that Kodagu had been “neglected” in the Budget, he said that the Government would try to assuage the feelings of the people of the district.

Mr. Manippadi condemned the attitude of the three BJP MPs from the State who had violated the party whip to support the United Progressive Alliance Government in the no-trust motion.

M.P. Sunil Subramani, president of the party’s Kodagu unit; party leaders Mohammad Salim and Usman Haji, and N.M. Kalappa, president of the Madikeri taluk panchayat, were present.